"Kansas" Not Home for ONCE UPON A TIME

Article originally written for Seat42F.

This week’s ONCE UPON A TIME, the last installment for the ABC series before the two-hour series finale next week, we see more Zelena (Rebecca Mader) backstory, including her encounter with a certain little girl in a gingham dress. In Storybrooke, Zelena sees her plan come to fruition, only to be stopped by something wholly unexpected – Regina the Hero (Lana Parrilla).

For those who have been hoping for a full Wizard of Oz telling, “Kansas” dashes those hopes once and for all. Young Dorothy Gale (Matreya Scarrwener) is brought to the marvelous land in a tornado, but doesn’t crush any witches, nor meet any scarecrows or tin woodsmen. Instead, she is found by Glinda (Sunny Mabrey) and the sisterhood of witches, then declines to join them because she just wants to go home.

Zelena has only recently accepted membership herself, finding a way to start over and losing her green pallor in their acceptance of her. But once Dorothy is on the scene, Zelena grows jealous of all the attention the girl earns, which turns her right back into wicked again. Doesn’t this thin skin and quick change prove that Zelena never got better in the first place, having just had a good day or two?

Actually, the whole Oz part of the story feels meandering, seemingly developed just to explain how Zelena’s power has been contained in the necklace and the manner in which Glinda is banished. Other than that, it treads water, showing our villain teased with a moment of happiness, then going right back to her old self. The prophecy mentioned is confusing and doesn’t really come to pass. It’s all just messy and unnecessary, those plot devices not needing a full episode to reveal.

The Storybrook parts of the episode are, overall, much better. Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) goes into labor, and the troops rally around her. But all it takes is Zelena nearly drowning Hook (Colin O’Donoghue), forcing Emma (Jennifer Morrison) to give him mouth-to-mouth, to drain Emma’s magic, the only thing that has a chance to stop her. Or so nearly everyone thinks.

 

Zelena easily slices through all the protections Charming (Josh Dallas) has arranged, and that makes sense, given what we know of her. Still, it’s heartening to see Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) and his men, Belle (Emilie de Ravine), Regina, and Charming try to stop her. At least they don’t go down without a fight, showing their noble spirits, even if Zelena gets the baby anyway.

At this low point, Zelena enacting her spell and the townspeople having no clear path to stop her, a hero is born. After spending three years on a redemption journey, Henry (Jared Gilmore) is confident his adopted mother has the light magic inside of her needed to defeat Zelena. With Robin Hood and Emma echoing Henry’s sentiment, Regina decides to give it a try, setting off with her now-friends to defeat Zelena.

Regina is my favorite character, and “Kansas” is a triumphant moment for her. It’s a culmination of everything she’s been through, her earned reward. Henry has been the catalyst in making her good, but she has to believe in herself to finish the process. There are still hints of the Evil Queen, Parrilla not abandoning the character she’s created, but her giving Zelena a second chance proves her transformation has taken hold.

I will say, Zelena is knocked out too easily. Is she really so surprised that Regina can summon one burst of light magic that she just gives up? Her story isn’t over, a surprise twist reuniting her ashes (after Rumple kills her) and her power, definitely setting up further battles in the season finale. But had this not occurred, as awesome as Regina’s scene is, it would be a bit of a letdown as a closing for Zelena.

ONCE UPON A TIME has done this before, and will likely do it again. I don’t know if it’s because it lacks the budget for a truly epic confrontation, or just the writing oomph, but it tends to peter out when it should double down on the action. A real fight, Regina and Zelena going at it full force, would be a welcome climax. This is satisfying, but barely so.

Thankfully, besides Regina’s success, there are also other wonderful character moments, the type ONCE UPON A TIME should have more of. Regina and Rumple’s (Robert Carlyle) exchange is terrific, as is Regina and Zelena’s conversation in the cell, and the moment Rumple comes to kill Zelena. Rumple and Belle have a very happy reuniting, complete with a proposal of marriage. And Henry catches up with Archie (Raphael Sbarge) in a rare, welcome, quiet scene.

It is sad to see Rumple backslide, having had his equivalent of a Regina moment in the mid-season finale, finally finding the good in himself. Yet, it’s understandable because Zelena kills Rumple’s son. That would be enough to force any person to re-evaluate themselves. The only regret here is in the way that Rumple plays Belle, which can only hurt their relationship. With fans of the couple never getting enough sweetness, this betrayal, which threatens to split them long-term, is quite painful.

The other weird thing about “Kansas” is Emma talking about going home. Yes, she’s lost her power, which does not return with Zelena’s defeat (though that could be because Zelena hasn’t been done away with permanently yet), but her family is in Storybrooke, and everyone is so happy to be together again. How can she even think about leaving? This actually seems forced, with Emma’s desire to stay away having been snuffed out previously, and there’s no reason for it to come back now.

Also, how come we only see Little John (Jason Burkart) alone of the monkeys restored to human form? Where are Aurora and Phillip and Walsh? Were they the monkeys our heroes callously and uncharacteristically killed at the docks last week? We need more story here. If they are dead, we need to see guilt and regret from the protagonists. If they are alive, we need to know who has been killed and see guilt and regret.

While uneven, the amazing bits in “Kansas” do make this an enjoyable episode of ONCE UPON A TIME. I look forward to next week’s wrap up, with cautious optimism that it will be handled without so many flaws.

ONCE UPON A TIME is "A Curious Thing"

Article originally written for Seat42F.

This week’s ONCE UPON A TIME on ABC, titled “A Curious Thing,” is the Big Reveal episode in which we find out who enacted the latest Dark Curse to bring everyone back to Storybrooke and why. It’s also the hour in which the curse is lifted and a mini-showdown with the villain is had. So it’s action-packed and full of plot twists.

It makes sense to start in the Enchant Forest during the missing year when talking about “A Curious Thing.” Our heroes know that Zelena (Rebecca Mader) wants Snow’s (Ginnifer Goodwin) baby for her end game and are clueless about how to stop her. After learning from Belle (Emilie de Ravine) that Rumple (Robert Carlyle) has been resurrected, they break into Rumple’s castle to see if he can help them. Rumple is nuts, though, so his words seem like ramblings.

There is just enough sanity leaking through from Rumple to provide a clue as to who might be able to offer assistance – Glinda the Good (Sunny Mabrey, The Client List). Snow, Charming (Josh Dallas), and Regina (Lana Parrilla) set off to find her at once. Glinda, however, can’t defeat Zelena, telling them that they need someone who is very powerful, full of light magic. Meaning they need Emma (Jennifer Morrison).

Unfortunately, the only way to get Emma back is to enact a new Dark Curse. Regina can’t do it, as Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) is whom she loves most and he isn’t in the realm. So the task falls to Snow, who must kill Charming, her true love. He willingly sacrifices himself for their baby, but before the curse can sweep over the land, Zelena shows up and drops in a potion that will wipe all of their memories (she herself has a brew to protect her own mind). Thus, we have the Storybrooke of these most recent episodes.

Of course Emma is the Savior again. She is always the one needed, a baby born of pure love. Emma is always the key to everything in ONCE UPON A TIME, so it’s not a big surprise that her family needs her again to save the day.

It is troubling, though, that Snow has it in herself to cast the Dark Curse. After all, she’s supposed to be the truly good person, and while she’s flirted with darkness in the past, it has never suited her. Still, the way the writers carefully handle the situation, making it all about love, not evil, protects Snow’s character as it unfolds.

Is it a little too easy that Snow can have Regina split her heart so that Charming can live? Yes. It seems more like the type of plot twist invented after the fact. Having written themselves into a corner, the scribes come up with this clever contrivance to keep the story going as they have it. It works, but it’s also slightly disappointing, a little bit too easy. Though, to be fair, with only three hours left, ONCE UPON A TIME doesn’t have time to stretch out Charming’s peril.

In Storybrooke, Emma, Snow, Charming, and Regina come to the conclusion that Henry’s memories must be revived to break the curse and restore everyone else’s. For some reason, only Snow can find the magic storybook, looking in a place Emma just searched. That bit is weird, but “A Curious Thing” doesn’t have time to delve into it, racing to get the book into Henry’s hands.

Meanwhile, Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) and Smee (Christopher Gauthier) are trying to spirit Henry out of town because Zelena has vowed to kill the boy if Hook doesn’t kiss Emma and take away her powers. Zelena and her monkeys act to prevent the escape, but only Emma showing up and using her magic can drive off the Wicked Witch… for now.

Hopefully Emma will get over being mad at Hook. While Hook should have told her what is going on, at least he does his best to protect her son, proving he’s a noble man, which, funnily enough, confuses Smee. And while no one trusts Hook because they didn’t send him to find Emma and he insists they did, it will have to come out that Neal (Michael Raymond-James) is behind that development eventually.

Does it bother anyone else that, during the battle, the good guys are killing flying monkeys left and right? These are their friends, like Little John, Aurora (Sarah Bolger), Phillip (Julian Morris), and others! Our heroes know that Zelena curses people into being monkeys. Shouldn’t they be attempting less lethal means in the hopes that once Zelena is defeated her victims can be restored?

Henry is super confused by the monkeys’ appearance, but touching the story book restores his mind. Soon after, Regina plants True Love’s Kiss on his forehead, and everyone remembers everything. Again, this all seems just a little too easy, but given the pacing of “A Curious Thing” and how little time is left in the season, it’s necessary to move past it. I’d rather they go a little fast that too slow right at this juncture.

It’s great that Regina is the one who kisses Henry and breaks the curse. This only reinforces her redemption arc. In fact, everything about Regina in this hour, including what is going on in the past, screams that she’s a good guy now. She’s put her evil ways behind her and is happily in love with Robin Hood (Sean Maguire). Might this be enough to make her magic light, combining with Emma to defeat Zelena?

There have been more interesting character-driven episodes of ONCE UPON A TIME, but in terms of moving along the current story, “A Curious Thing” is a solid hour, full of revelations and run-ins. It’s exciting enough to get past a couple of little gripes about a too-easy solution, and overall, I really enjoyed it.

ONCE UPON A TIME only has two weeks left in its third season. Tune in Sundays at 8 p.m. ET for the conclusion.